This Wednesday, January 21 sees the New Zealand television premiere of COLLABORATOR, a very unusual little film that is also the writing and directorial debut of a highly respected acting talent – Martin Donovan.
It’s the story of Robert Longfellow, a renowned playwright in the middle of a creative dry spell that is turning him in knots. His latest high-profile production is a very famous flop, so to extricate himself from the bad press and general dysfunction of his professional life, he retreats to the home to the neighbourhood he grew up in on the other side of the country. He quite literally runs home to mama with his tale between his legs, and that is when things really start to go pear-shaped.
This Wednesday, January 21 sees the New Zealand television premiere of COLLABORATOR, a very unusual little film that is also the writing and directorial debut of a highly respected acting talent – Martin Donovan.
It’s the story of Robert Longfellow, a renowned playwright in the middle of a creative dry spell that is turning him in knots. His latest high-profile production is a very famous flop, so to extricate himself from the bad press and general dysfunction of his professional life, he retreats to the home to the neighbourhood he grew up in on the other side of the country. He quite literally runs home to mama with his tale between his legs, and that is when things really start to go pear-shaped.
The film is actor Martin Donovan’s writing and directorial debut, and this guy is definitely no stranger to the game when it comes to great indie film and television. He has acted in both film and television for over two decades, in roles that have ranged from co-staring in the 2009 horror film ‘A Haunting in Connecticut’, to playing Mary-Louise Parker’s love interest in the popular Showtime television series, Weeds. Although Martin had plenty of acting experience in a number of different genres, COLLABORATOR marks the first time we get to see what he can do behind the camera and he does good in my humble opinion – particularly in the writing department.
Donovan stars in his own film as the playwright Longfellow, who is referred to in the preface of the movie as a writer who is “fading into irrelevancy.” The “writer of the film is portraying the writer in the film” dynamic helps gets things going from the beginning, and provides an interesting premise when it comes to reviewing the thing.
Donovan casts himself alongside awesome co-star David Morse, who plays a mentally ill childhood acquaintance called Gus who still lives in his childhood home with his mother. Home from New York to stay with his own mother, Robert is a sitting duck of sorts for the needy Gus who spots him early on and starts formulating a plan.
Gus spots Robert and drops by a couple of times to try to coax Robert into having a beer and smoking some weed with him, an offer that Robert politely dodges - until that one moment he can no longer avoid it. Deep in the moment with little way of escape, Gus pulls a gun and takes Robert hostage in Robert’s mother’s home while she is out of the house. As the police surround the place, it becomes clear that village idiot Gus has actually injured a man during a robbery, and the police have come for him.
So is it any good? I reckon so, and think you will too. It is most definitely an assured directorial debut for actor Donovan, and is in turn smart, funny and tense, It’s been called “exceedingly earnest” and accused of being an exercise in over thinking, but I don’t agree. It’s also a hostage drama (a very much overused plot device) but is much more than that. The Collaborator is about two men - two middle-aged, failures in their respective fields - who are stuck in one house with an interesting outcome, and makes for a great night in.
Screening Times:
21/01/2015 8:30pm
22/01/2015 10:45am
25/01/2015 11:05pm
26/01/2015 6:15am
09/02/2015 3:00pm
19/02/2015 4:25pm